Motor control system



Aug. 26, 1941. c. LYNN MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Dec. 21-, 1939 Fzyx.

(la fence INVENTQR WITNESSES:

mm... Aug. 26, 1941 2,254,043

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEM Clarence Lynn, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of PennsyL' vania Application December 21, 1939, Serial No. 310,391 4 Claims. (01. 172-239) My invention relates, generally, to motor contion of operation as determined by armature volttrol systems, and more particularly, to systems age control. for controlling the excitation of relatively large A more specific object of my invention is to prodynamo-electric machines, such, for example, as vide for utilizing a series exciter in a motor condirect current motors of the reversing type. 5 trol system of the character described which shall Large direct current compound motors which function to maintain the proper polarity of the are used for driving reversing rolling mills and compounding field winding of the motor regardthe like are usuallycontrolled, both as regards less of the direction of operation of the motor speed and direction of operation, by controlling without utilizinga reversing switch in the armathe polarity and amount of voltage of the supture circuit of the exciter.

ply generator or source in a well known manner. Another object of my invention is to provide a Voltage control of motors of this kind requires motor control system of the character described that some provision be made for maintaining the wherein a predetermined polarity of the armature polarity of the series or compounding field windvoltage of the series exciter is automatically main ing the same as the main or shunt field winding mined regardless of reversals of the voltage apfor either direction of operation of the motor. plied to the motor armature without the use of This has beenaccomplished in the past by proauxiliary control of any kind between the series viding the motor with a wire-wound compoundexciter and the main voltage control of the suping field winding, as distinguished from a strapply generator or source.

wound series field winding connected in the armago A further object of my invention is to provide, ture circuit, and utilizing a series field winding in a motor control system of the character de-' connected in the armature circuit, and utilizing a scribed, for maintaining the desired polarity of series exciter to energize the compounding field the compounding field winding of the motor by windjng utilizing a series exciter provided with a plurality The usual practice is to connect the compound- 2.3 of field windings, the selective energization of ing field winding of the motor across the armawhich is controlled by rectifier means connected ture of the series exciter and excite the field windin circuit relation therewith.

ing of the exciter in accordance with the load or Another object of my invention is to provide,

armature current of the motor by connecting it in a motor control system of the character deacross an armature shunt or an interpole field scribed, for maintaining the desired polarity of winding to be responsive to the voltage drop the compounding field Winding of the motor by thereacross. The polarity of the compounding utilizing rectifier means in the circuit between field winding was then maintained the same as the compounding field winding and the armature the main field winding by connecting a suitable of the series exciter and providing the exciter reversing switch between the. exciter and the with asingle field winding.

compounding field winding and controlling the A still further object of my invention is to reversing switch in accordance with the reversals provide for maintaining the desired polarity of of the voltage applied to the motor armature. the compounding field winding by utilizing a The use of a reversing switch for this purpose, toseries exciter with a single field winding and gether with the necessary amount of auxiliary connecting the single field winding to the armacontrol apparatus to operate it in conjunction ture circuit of the motor through rectifier means. with the main voltage control apparatus of'the These and other objects of my invention will generator or supply source, complicates the conbecome more apparent from the detailed specifitrol, makes it more expensive, and increases the cation to follow, when considered in conjunction possibilities for trouble occurring during normal 40 with the accompanying drawing, in which:

operation of the equipment. gure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a motor Accordingly, it is an object of my invention, control system constituting a preferred embodigenerally stated, to provide for controlling the ment of my invention; excitation of a direct current motor of the re- Figs. 2 and 3 are modifications of the exciter versing type in a simple, reliable and economical field system shown in Fig. 1; and manner Fig. 4 is still'another modification of the em- A more specific object of my invention is to bodiment shown in Fjig. 1. provide for automatically maintaining the de- Referring now to Figure 1, a direct current sired polarity of the compounding field winding compound motor I is provided with an armature of a direct current motor regardless of its direcand a shunt field winding 3. The motor I is also provided with a series or compounding field winding 4 and a commutating field winding 5. The shunt field winding 3 may be excited from a suitable source of direct current power represented by conductors A and B.

It is well known that the direction of rotation of a motor of thh type may be controlled either by reversing the excitation current of the shunt field winding of the motor or by reversing the direction of the current through the armature circuit of the motor. From a practical standpoint however, the general practice is to control the direction of operation of such motors by reversing the direction 01 the current fiow in the armature circuit, which is usually accomplished by supplying the motor with power from a generator provided with suitable control to reverse its polarity. In order to simplify the drawing the armature 2 of the motor is shown connected to a power source represented by conductors 6 and 1 through a reversing switch 8 and a variable resistor 9. The reversing switch 8 represents a means for reversing the voltage applied to the motor armature and the variable resistor 9 represents a means to vary the amount of applied voltage.

In this embodiment of the invention a direct current exciter I0, which may be driven in any suitable manner is utilized to energize the compounding field winding 4 of the motor I and is provided with an armature II and a field system I2 comprising two field windings I3 and I4. To permit the field circuits to be energized alternately, rectifiers l5 and I6 are utilized in seriescircuit relation with the field windings I3 and I4, respectively. Although rectifiers I5 and I5 are so connected that they pass current in opposite directions the connections to each of the field circuits are such that current is permitted to pass through each circuit in the same direction.

In order to energize the field system I! of the exciter III in proportion to the amount of current traversing the armature circuit of the motor I, it may be connected in shunt-circuit relation with the commutating or interpole field winding 5 of the motor. It will be understood, however, that the same desired results may be likewise obtained by utilizing the potential drop across a suitable shunt placed in series with the armature circuit of the motor or by any other suitable means. A variable resistance 2| may be utilized between the compounding field winding 4 and the exciter armature I to adjust the current in the field circuit to the desired value.

In describing the operation of the system it may be assumed that the motor I is rotating in a clockwise direction and that the current is traversing the armature circuit of the motor in the direction indicated by the solid arrows in Fig. 1. A drop in potential across the commutat ing field winding 4 of the motor is thus obtained and such potential is impressed on the field sys-- tem I2 of the exciter III. As hereinbefore explained. the rectifier elements I5 and I6 are connected to permit current flow in directions opposite to each other and, accordingly, when current fiows in the field system I2 in the direction indicated by the solid arrows, it will pass only through rectifier I5 and the field winding l3,

thereby producing an exciter potential of a polarity indicated in Fig. 1. Since the exciter is "driven at a constant speed, the output potential thereof varies substantially in proportion to the amount of load current flowing in the armature circuit of the motor I.

When the motor I is reversed by actuating the reversing switch 8 to its opposite position, thereby reversing the polarity of the potential applied to the armature 2, current will obviously pass through the armature circuit of the motor I in the opposite direction. as indicated by the dotted arrows. Under these circumstances, the polarity of the potential drop across the commutating field winding 5 will also be reversed and current will flow into the field system I 2 of the exciter ,IU, in the direction indicated by the dotted arrows. As heretofore explained, current will now pass only through the rectifier I6 and field winding I4 due to the blocking action of the rectifier I5.

However, since the connections to field winding I4 are opposite to those of field winding I3, the current will fiow through field winding I4 in the same direction as current flows through the field winding I3. and produces a flux in the same direction as that produced by the field winding I3. Accordingly, the polarity of the potential produced at the armature terminals of the exciter ID for counterclockwise rotation of the motor will be the same as that produced when the motor is rotated in a clockwise direction.

Since the polarity of the potential of the ex citer l0 remains fixed for both directions of motor rotation, it follows that the current for energizing the compounding field winding 4 will fiow in a fixed direction therethrough irrespective of the direction in which the motor is rotating, thereby maintaining the desired fixed directional relationship between the fluxes of the shunt field 3 and series field 4 of the motor I.

In Fig. 2, which is a modification of the system of Fig. 1, I have again employed two separate field windings I3 and I4. However, the field windings I3 and I4 of the exciter ID are wound in opposite directions to each other. Hence, although the current will now flow alternatively through the field circuits I3 and I4 in opposite directions in accordance with the direction in which the motor I is rotating, the. direction of fiux produced by each 0! said fields will be the same.

In Fig. 3, the two field windings I 3 and I4 of the field system I2 of the exciter l0 shown in' Figs. 1 and 2 have been replaced by a single field winding II. A plurality of rectifiers I8 are connected in the well known bridge circuit arrangement and are connected between the field winding II of the exciter I0 and the field winding 5 of the motor I, and are effective to permit the flow of current through the field winding II in one direction only, irrespective oi the direction in which current is flowing in thearmature circuit of the motor.

In Fig. 4, as in Fig. 3, the field system of the exciter I0 comprises a single field winding I9 which is connected across the field winding 5 of the motor I for energizatlon therefrom in proportion to the current flowing in the armature circuit of said motor. It will be apparent that when the direction of current fiow in the motor armature is reversed to obtain rotation thereof in an opposite direction, the polarity of the potential applied to the field winding I9 of the exciter II] will amo be reversed. As hereinbefore explained, the exciter is run in a fixed direction, and the polarity of the potential at the armature terminals of the exciter III will likewise be reversed in accordance therewith. In order that the compounding field winding be energized in a fixed direction which obviously requires a potential thereior oi fixed polarity, I have provided a plurality of rectifiers 20 which are arranged in bridge" circuit relation and connected between the armature terminals oi the exciter Ill and'the field winding 4 thereby maintaining a current flow through the field winding in one direction only irrespective of the direction in which the motor I is rotating.

In conclusion, it will be appreciated that I have provided a novel and improved means for exciting the compounding field winding of a direct current compound motor of the reversing type which eliminates the necessity for utilizing a reversing switch of any kind in the armature circuit of the series exciter thereby eliminating all moving parts subject to wear and efiecting an increase in service efficiency of the motor control system. 7

It will be evident that various modifications may be made in the various embodiments of my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and I desire that only such limitations as are necessitated by the prior art be placed thereon.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a reversible compound motor having an armature, a separately excited main field winding and a separately excited compounding field winding, an exciter means for supplying current to 'said compounding field winding, said exciter having a. field circuit including means for obtaining energization thereof in proportion to the fiow of current in the armature circuit of said motor, and rectifier means connected in circuit relation with said exciter field circuit for effecting a unidirectional current flow in said exciter field circuit to maintain a predetermined polarity of the output potential thereof irrespective of the direction of fiow of current in the armature circuit of said motor.

2. The combination with a reversible compound motor apparatus having separately excited shunt and compounding field windings and an armature circuit including means for reversing the current flow in said armature circuit for obtaining rotation of said motor in both directions, of an exciter i'or energizing said compounding field winding, the field circuit of said exciter being connected for energization in proportion to said motor armature current and inmotor having a separately excited main shunt field winding, a compounding field winding, and a commutating field winding connected in series circuit relation with its armature circuit, an exciter for energizing said compounding field winding, said exciter having a field circuit connected in parallel across said commutating field winding of the motor, and rectifier means disposed in circuit relation between said exciter field circuit and said commutating field winding toeffect unidirectional current fiow in said exciter field for bothdirections of current fiow in said motor armature circuit, thereby to maintain an output potential of fixed polarity on said exciter for both directions of rotation of said motor.

4. In combination,- a compound direct current motor having a separately excited main field winding of fixed polarity, a compounding field winding, and a commutating field winding connected in series circuit relation with its armature circuit, an exciter for energizing said compounding field winding, said exciter having a field circuit connected in parallel across said comutating field winding of the motor, and rectifier means arranged in bridge circuit relation and connected in series between said exciter field circuit and said commutating field winding to effect unidirectional current fiow in said exciter field circuit for both directions of current fiow in said motor armature circuit, thereby to maintain an output potential of fixed polarity on said exciter for both directions of rotation of said motor.

CLARENCE LYNN. 

